Den Haag

On Easter sunday we made our way to Den Haag - the final destination of the three day journey :)

Although many of you might think that perhaps Den Haag is the capital of the Netherlands, the truth is that even though it is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, in fact the constitutional capital is Amsterdam. The Queen lives at Huis ten Bosch, which is located in the city. All foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organizations can be found in Den Haag. Due to it being the localization of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, it is one of the major cities hosting the United Nations.

deer in a park

@ Binnehof

@ Binnehof

Interestingly (or perhaps not so much) the stork is the animal that represents the city. Being a stuffed animal lover like myself, of course I had to bring one back.

As we walked the streets of the city, we came across a small shop that had in its windows the following sign: "30 Abril Sardinhada". We realized one thing as we read this... a Portuguese shop! It had many Portuguese brands and foods we had not seen in months :P

@ Portuguese embassy

@ Peace Palace

We had promised ourselves that if we went to Den Haag we would also make time to go to Scheveningen Beach :D And we did! The weather did not scream 'beach!' but we were really excited to finally see the beach after a few months. Tradition is tradition, so after having touched the Pacific waters more than 10 years ago, this time I also touched the waters of the North Sea. 

I was in Den Haag and Scheveningen seven years ago, and even though at the time I did not visit much of the city, I still remembered the beach :) That's got to mean something, right? This trip is definitely worth it - I have a feeling we left without seeing all Den Haag has to offer...